


Double (the) Trouble(s)

by TrasBen



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: (mostly), Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Big Brother Sans (Undertale), Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Prostitution, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Past Child Abuse, Slice of Life, Sort of cannibalistic thoughts/urges, Twin Sanses Au, dark themes, not fontcest, sorry only family feels here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25541104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrasBen/pseuds/TrasBen
Summary: Papyrus was raised by his older brothers.There's a lot of things he didn't understand when he was younger that he does now. Double the Sanses means double the problems, as far as he's concerned.
Relationships: Papyrus & Sans (Undertale), Sans & Papyrus & Sans, Sans & Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 59





	1. one year anniversary

**Author's Note:**

> just claryfing once again if you didn't check out all the tags, this isn't fontcest/fellcest. nothing against it, just that this follows more of the dysfunctional family route.
> 
> this fic also won't follow a chronological order - it's small bites out of the au at different times. i'll put in the beginning notes when it takes place in the timeline!
> 
> __this chapter takes place around 12 years into the Snowdin Era__

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> happy anniversary, boss!

Papyrus hears them before he sees it. As soon as he unlocks the front door and steps in, the whisper-bickering from the kitchen halts before picking up twice as fervently. He almost groans out loud because he’s got the start of a headache and he knows whatever it is won’t help.

It’s been a long day and he almost wants to bypass the kitchen entirely to hole up in his room and forget the sins of the day, but Cherry pokes his head out of the kitchen a second too soon and once Papyrus sees the sweet grin on his older brother’s face, he can’t run.

“welcome home!” Cherry greets. He’s got Papyrus’ apron on, the pink one that Red had gotten as a joke gift for his sixteenth birthday. He rarely uses it, but Cherry adores the thing. It still makes him roll his eye lights, though.

Cherry and Red: Papyrus’ brothers. They’re twins, which is unheard of for monsters. But Papyrus and his brothers aren't like normal monsters, they’re not the result of a few SOULs rubbing together and the exchange of magic. 

Instead, Cherry and Red had once been a single mass of magic and whatever else their father had used to create them that split into two during an anomalous event. It had happened so late that they developed quite literally joined at the hip. Both share a scar on their hip bone where they were split and the bone was sanded down to an almost normal shape.

They’re nearly identical, besides for scars and the fact that Cherry’s got a golden tooth. Even their fonts are the same - Comic Sans. It’s why they have unusual names for skeletons. Sometimes, if Papyrus wants to get both of their attention he’ll call for ‘Sans’.

“Thank you.” Papyrus replies. He figures he might as well bite the bullet and see what the argument was all about. Cherry beats him to the punch once again and waves him into the kitchen. The throbbing in his skull drifts to the background. He’ll deal with it later.

Cherry has always been the sweeter twin, like his name suggests. Red’s more about being tough and untouchable, trying to make up for the singular hp he and Cherry have. If Papyrus has to guess, he'd say Cherry’s won whatever argument the two were having in the kitchen and Red is currently sulking.

He cautiously steps into the room like his first time there. But it’s _not_ the first time he’s caught Red and Cherry arguing. Usually, it’s about Cherry’s ‘side gig’. Sometimes it’s about something less trivial but exhausting nonetheless.

There’s no catastrophic mess, at least.

Red is sitting at the table with his feet up and his phone out. Cherry ignores him and sits Papyrus down at the opposite side of the table. He then runs over to the fridge to pull something out.

The more gruff of his brothers finally looks up from his phone and clicks his teeth once. He has that face on that he gets when he thinks his brothers are being ridiculous about something.

Papyrus’s thought is confirmed when Red talks. “cherry’s back on his bullshit again.” Red says loud enough for Cherry to hear, “he blew a month’s savings on eggs and milk.” 

Cherry stomps over with the product of his spending: a homemade cake, chocolate. It has one candle on the top. His perpetual grin is down turned at the edges as he looks at Red sternly. “feet off the table.” Red begrudgingly does as he’s told and Cherry’s all smiles again as he looks at Papyrus and puts the cake in front of him. “i didn’t spend any of our savings. i got the money from my side gig.”

It’s like the temperature in the room drops. Red sits up straight in his seat, angry.

“what the fuck? you said you quit!” He seethes, fists clenched almost as tightly as his jaw. Cherry flinches and ducks his skull, shuffling closer to Papyrus.

He’s folding into himself, shutting down like he always does when 'quitting' or any of his promises about it are brought up, especially by Red. “... i didn’t want to spend any of our money.” Cherry whispers.

“oh, so you’re not blowing our _money,_ just all of snowdin, huh?” Red says sarcastically. Cherry’s bones start to rattle and Papyrus knows that he’s got to stop this if he doesn’t want it to turn into a week long argument that results in Red sleeping on the couch and being even more grumpy than usual.

He tugs Cherry into his side and pats his head a few times, trying not to think about the pain in _his_ skull. “Not tonight.” Papyrus tells Red tiredly. Cherry shifts to hide his face in Papyrus’s scarf.

Red pushes himself back in his chair with a growl. “i thought you were on my side about this shit, boss. did you forget how _little cherry_ got his gold tooth in the first place?”

Papyrus feels his own temper flare. _Of course_ he remembers. It’d been one of his most horrific memories as a child, seeing his older brother, still young himself, stumble home with ripped clothes and a hole in his smile. How dare Red imply that he’d forget?

“... i’m sorry.” Cherry suddenly sniffles, sounding about to cry. “i can’t…”

"you shouldn't be doing that shit anymore, cher." Red stares at him hard, like he's trying to put words into his head. Sometimes Papyrus wonders if that's something twins can do, but surely not. "it's gonna fuckin' kill you."

Cherry releases Papyrus and rubs at his sockets. He ignores Red. “happy anniversary, boss… i’m going to bed....” He slides the cake closer to Papyrus and does his best attempt at a smile. It’s frankly painful and disturbing to look at, so Papyrus looks at the cake instead while his older brother scurries away, still not looking at Red. 

“yeah, one year of being captain.” Red adds sarcastically before Cherry can leave. His tone doesn’t hide what he thinks of the celebration. “whoop-de-fuckin’-do. how many attempts on your life this year? thirty? or should we count all the times asgore nearly offed you himself?”

But Cherry's halfway up the stairs by the time he finishes. With a frustrated sigh, Red leaves the table as well. All that’s left in the kitchen is Papyrus, sitting in front of his cake. Alone.

Not a second later the sound of the TV in the living room blares throughout the house, adding to the headache that’s slowly been building in Papyrus’ skull since he first entered the house. There's no doubt that Red will be sleeping there for however long it takes the argument to blow over yet again.

He _knew_ that he should’ve gone to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> real quick, i'd like to mention that i don't think that sex work is bad or dirty. it's very stigmatized and the people who work in the industry know what type of risks they face and on top of that are pretty looked down upon by society for just trying to support themselves or even if they just enjoy the job. if you're upset with red, just know that his own reservations about cherry's 'side gig' come from the fact that they're both very fragile and red feels like he's failing somehow if his brother has to do something so dangerous. he, uh, doesn't vocalize this in the best way lol.


	2. two souls in synchrony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> there's somethings cherry doesn't need to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey hey!!! WARNINGS for dark themes and cannabalistic urges too sorta. stay safe!
> 
> also, this scene could take place during any time the brothers live in snowdin.

Red’s a night owl. He can and often will sleep all day, but at night is when his mind comes alive, like some sort of terrible frankenstein's monster. He thinks it might be a punishment. To be left alone with his own mind, with his LV.

His own sins haunt him during the dark hours of the night. As he watches Cherry fall into a hesitant rest, whispers fill up the space of Red's skull until he feels like there's no room left in his hollow head and like he might _explode._

When Cherry is asleep, Red feels the world _shift_ as if he's in another dimension entirely. There’s only one beat-up mattress in their room and not much else, so most nights the twins are curled up next to each other under the one blanket they also share. It’s quiet and oh so loud with only soft, slow breathes to distract Red from the hissing of his mind.

Sometimes the silence is too deafening and Red has to move to the couch where the blasting TV will distract him from the night's insanities. Despite this, Red is always drawn back into the small space next to Cherry either by morning or ths next night.

Edge tried to have them find another mattress years ago, but Red had claimed he was too lazy and Cherry never opposed. There’s not a lot that Cherry opposes when it comes to Red or Edge.

He's soft like that, and if there's anything Red could begrudge his twin, it's that Red allows him to be so. He lets Cherry tuck Edge into bed and kiss his skull goodnight, whereas Red allows Edge to resent him. He lets Cherry talk _him_ into napping during shifts. He lets Cherry think that there's something left in Red's crippled SOUL worth loving.

It's more than Red has ever allowed for himself or even for _Edge._ And it's also incredibly selfish. Red needs Cherry like he needs his magic. He's a parasite, a stain on their family unit and the entire Underground, too, probably.

Red, dirty with LV and hate and everything bad. Useless to his youngest brother and a drain on the other.

And Cherry, his undoubtably better half. With compassion like monsters were made to have and only one kill to his name.

Their duality has probably got something to do with the way they were created.

There’s a part of Red that still remembers back when he and Cherry were one in the same. He feels it in the way their SOULs beat in tandem and in the way that they sometimes wake up with the same aches or scratch at the same itches.

On the nights Red falls asleep next to his twin, he dreams of red Determination and the sweet tasting powder of monster dust. He sees himself grasping, through a small rib cage, a SOUL so bright that it hurts to look at. And in those dreams he feels the pain replaced by _euphoria_ when he brings the SOUL to his mouth and swallows.

The relief, the feeling of being content. Watching apathetically as Cherry fades into dust, which gathers on Red's jacket as the two, so cruely torn apart, become one again.

Sweeter than any dust, more pleasurable than any high. Cherry is everything Red's SOUL tells him he needs, what his LV urges him to **t a k e .**

He feels it in the way that on nights like this, the urge to reach into his twin’s rib cage and steal what his own SOUL tells him is **h i s** is nearly unbearable.

Red pushes down that part of him until it’s only a whisper at the back of his mind and then some. But still, every night without fail, the itch comes back and Red has to keep his twitching hands from clawing open Cherry’s fragile rib cage to get at the center of his being while the other sleeps.

Resisting _aches_. 

It scares Red, the idea that one night he might fail and fall asleep and while stuck in those terrible dreams, he’ll do everything he fights when he’s awake. That he’ll wake up with a pile of dust next to him and a feeling of twisted calm in his SOUL.

In the mornings when Red's gotten no sleep at all, he lets Cherry comfort him and rub the top of his skull like Red hadn't just been thinking about consuming his entire being whole and leaving nothing but chalky white powder. He lets Cherry talk him into napping during their shift, and sleeps as his better half ignorantly keeps him company, not knowing that inches away is a SOUL that hungers for his own.

Their SOULs are two of a kind, beating the same rhythm and singing identical tunes.

Two SOULs in synchrony. It hurts like nothing else, but Red would rather spend a thousand years in pain than spend one day without Cherry by his and Edge's sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know how one twin will sometimes absorb the other in the womb.
> 
> phew... onto less dark things in the future >.>
> 
> also im going to edit this tmrw so

**Author's Note:**

> hehehe hey
> 
> ___  
> me: why don't we work on some of our wips?
> 
> my brain: yeah but i just made an underfell Twin Sans au right now so you should probably write that instead. like. now.
> 
> me: b-but.... i haven't finished the -
> 
> my brain: Twin. Sans. Au. Bitch.
> 
> me: .... yes, m'lord...... you're the boss
> 
> __  
> yeah so expect sad times with a lil fluff :)
> 
> [heres mah tumbly](https://beanniebenn.tumblr.com/)


End file.
